Your Turn: GOP tax bill is a bait-and-switch

According to a report from the Congressional Budget Office, the tax bill could negatively affect Americans in the lowest income brackets.
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House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, keeps a stack of books that document the current federal tax code and related regulations on his desk during the first markup of the proposed GOP tax reform legislation Nov. 6 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

It comes as no surprise that U.S. Rep. Tom Reed is deceiving his constituents on the House tax bill. The congressman claims this bill will save “most” taxpayers an average of $1,600 per person across the district. This simply isn’t true long term.

The bill is a classic bait-and-switch tactic by Republicans to put more money in the hands of their wealthy donors and to strip benefits from the average American. The bait? A relatively small and short-lived middle-class tax cut. The switch? Massive tax cuts for the super-wealthy and corporations that Congress will have to pay for by cutting Medicare, something Reed promised not to touch.

Under the Republican tax plan, corporate taxes are slashed from 35 percent to 20 percent, and gluttonous new tax breaks for corporations further reduce their tax bill. They even get a special low tax rate of 12 percent to bring hidden foreign profits to the U.S. These handouts to business are permanent, while tax rate reductions for individuals are temporary. Bait, switch.

Reed’s tax bill gives more handouts to the super-rich by eliminating the estate tax (which Republicans call the death tax so people will think it is bad). It’s really a tax on lavish estates and trust funds willed to someone when estates are worth over $10 million. It will save Donald Trump’s heirs $31 million. Reed said he favored this elimination because it was unfair to farmers and other district taxpayers. Yeah, that’s it, he’s worried about the heirs to all of those farming fortunes in our district.

Reed’s bill also hurts average taxpayers by capping the state and local tax deduction at $10,000, which will increase your state tax bill by as much as $3,000. And, the bill eliminates deductions for charitable donations and student loan interest, so your child’s cost for college just increased big time. As mentioned, the tax bill cuts $400 billion in Medicare program benefits over the next 10 years to offset increasing the national debt by $1.5 trillion to pay for tax breaks for the rich. Who takes from the elderly to give to the rich? Not someone with Southern Tier values, that’s for sure.

The real objective of this tax bill is to give a $269 billion Christmas gift to the super-wealthy, less than 1 percent of taxpayers, while everyone else gets coal in their stocking. If Reed and his Republican buddies in D.C. think they can hoodwink Southern Tier voters with their bait-and-switch game, they have another think coming. The fact is, you may see a tax reduction, but not for long. Temporary tax reductions for individuals start expiring in 2022 and are entirely eliminated by 2027 (only 10 years away), when you’ll face a big, big, big tax increase. Reed will laughing all the way to the bank, if we let him.

Margie Lawlor, of Corning, is vice chair of Steuben County Democrats and Corning City Democrats.